Latest / The Folkestone & Hythe Sports Podcast / WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE THREE MUSIC SIBLINGS CALLED ORFILA FROM FOLKESTONE? HAVE A LISTEN TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING THESE DAYS.

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE THREE MUSIC SIBLINGS CALLED ORFILA FROM FOLKESTONE? HAVE A LISTEN TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING THESE DAYS. · The Folkestone & Hythe Sports Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: And we've got something a little bit different from sport today,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: but very local to our town of Folkestone. Now, back
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: in 2013, I was on the mic at the Folkestone's
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Race for Life, and I invited two sisters, Louise and Abby,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: to perform a couple of lively songs to get the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: audience warmed up.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Next thing you know, I'm dragged onto the stage... where
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: I was.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Stuck in the middle of Louisa and Abby in front
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of thousands of spectators and roped into joining in with
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: this song.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: And this is so appropriately named.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Because for about three minutes, three minutes, 20 seconds, I
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: was stuck in the middle of Louisa and Abby.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: So sit back and enjoy it. Steelers will. Stuck in
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the middle with you.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: MUSIC PLAYS.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: Here I am stuck in the middle with you Yes
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: I'm And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: Here I am stuck in.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: The middle with you Yes.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I'm stuck in the middle So Stuck in the Middle
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: with Louise and Happy That was a song from 1973.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: You know, I haven't heard it for ages.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: And straight away, every time I hear that song, bang,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: it goes straight back to the Lees and Race for Life. Now,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: I've had an email from a lady called Julie Wallace.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Julie is the grandmother of Louise, Abby and Matt Ophelia.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Julie is a great fan of Radio Folkestone, going back
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: to the early days of Academy FM. And she's really
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: pleased Ophelia songs are still in the playlist. I mean,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: it must be so rewarding, mustn't it, to hear your
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: very own grandchildren's music. still being played on your very
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: own local radio station. Now, Julie wondered why nothing was
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: ever mentioned about them after one of their songs was played. Well, Julie,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: there might be two reasons. One is because it's slotted
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: into an automated playlist with no presenter. Or two, the
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: presenter hasn't any knowledge of them. Well, that's about to change,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: at least for today. Now my first contact goes back to, well,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: I've been trying to rack my brains really. It was
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: around about 2011 when it was basically just Louise on
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: her own. Now she used to come into the KMFM
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: studios with myself and Adam Dowling. Then later into the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Academy FM with myself, Adam, Wayne Conyers, Chris Kirkham, who
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: were all lurking about on various shows. Eventually siblings, Abby
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: and Matt joined Louise and they performed under the name Orfila.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: From their beginnings in Folkestone, they created a distinctive three-part
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: harmony style and went on to support singer-songwriter Ben Montague
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: on BBC Radio 2, later on supporting UK rock band Dodgy,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Irish folk legend Sharon Shannon, whilst continually gigging around Kent
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: as they became more and more popular.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Now, 2013 saw them giving support.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: To people like real accomplished artists such as Beverly Craven
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: and the legendary singer-songwriter Albert Hammond. And I will say
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: that both of those gigs I was actually in the audience.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: 2014 saw them on the main stage at one of
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Europe's major summer events, the Gibraltar Music Festival. Now, remembering
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: those days, they were still quite young and what can
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: you say, you know, kind of life got in the way.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: COVID was the main downfall of entertainment and live concerts
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: absolutely everywhere.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: And they chose different directions as they grew older.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Now, I wouldn't say, I don't like using this word,
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say they split up as the whole family
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: was really very close under the guidance of mum and dad,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Andy and Julie, and extra support from grandparents, Julie and Philip.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: So we've been in touch with all three of them
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: to find out what they're doing with themselves these days.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: So we've got little snippets to tell you. about all
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: three of them.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: First of all, Louise. Now, Louise continues to follow her
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: love of music. She is a professional qualified vocal coach
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: and singing teacher, owns and runs her own award-winning theatre school,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: as well as helping aspiring singer-songwriters achieve their goals through
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: her very own artist development programme and artist management company.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Louise's love of singing, songwriting and music, coupled with her
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: passion for teaching and vast performance experience, underpins all the
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: work that she does, encouraging and supporting her students in
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: all that they do. So there you see it. Louise
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: is still very... Music is in their blood, these people.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: You just can't take it away from them. Now, her
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: sister Abby was introduced to the Folkestone Rock and Roll
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Wall of Fame, featured as BBC Introducing Track of the
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Week for International Women's Day. And she opened Smoked and
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Uncut Festival with Supergrass as the headliner. Abby also performed
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: with Matt at the Cavern Club in Liverpool alongside Ashley Campbell,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: who was Glen Campbell's daughter, and headlined the Troubadour in London. Additionally,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: her singles Here I Come, which I did discover actually,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Abby is in our playlist.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: So there you go.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: And streamlined to reach number one in the QH Sounds
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: top charts in collaboration with Rough Trade and HMV. Abby
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: was also one of eight selected for the Country Calling
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: UK Festival's Female Rising programme, and a TikTok video of
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: her singing Jolene went viral, surpassing over 350,000 views.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Abby's still very.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Active in the country music scene, planning her next single release,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: and she teaches piano and vocal coaching in and around
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Folkestone and Kent.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: And I saw Abby a few months ago, actually.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: I used to work for Eurotunnel and they kind of
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: drag me out and dust me off if there's a
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: show and they want someone to compare it. And to
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: my pleasant surprise, Abby was singing on the guest list.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: And it was so nice to see her and have
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: a chat. And it's nice to know that she's still
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: doing well in the music world. Now, Brother Matt, he
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: goes on to say that he continues to write and
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: play music. and has gigged with Abbey. This is kind
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: of a bit of a repeat because it's two reports
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: and they've been working together, so you understand that.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: He's gigged with Abbey over the.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Last few years at some very cool venues. They played
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the Cavern Club in Liverpool and the Troubadour in London,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: playing on the same stage that Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Elton John and Led Zeppelin had played on previously. Matt
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: has been busy in other areas of his life in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: recent years, but he hopes to get involved with music
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: again in the next few months. So there you have it,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: a bit of an update on Orfila, who come from Folkestone.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: And it's kind of brought back some really happy memories
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: for me because they were such a fun trio, you know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: and we're always in local radio in the studio, either
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: here or back in the days of Academy. So it's
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: nice to just jog everybody's memory. And it's so nice
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: that Julie, the grandmother, can still listen in to her
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: grandchildren's songs. So what I'm going to do, something I
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: have never, ever done on radio before, I'm going to
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: play two songs by one artist. Yes, you've guessed it,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: Julie Orfila. And so we've talked about them and hope
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: you've really enjoyed it. And so I want to say
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: good morning to Julia, Philip, Abby, Louise and Matt and
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: everybody in the Orfila family. So sit back and enjoy
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: these two songs back to back. Draw a line writing
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: on the wall and then we might even do some sports.
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: I never thought that we would be here again And
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: there was me thinking we were closest friends.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: I'm sick and.
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: Tired of feeling this way Feeling so close but drifting
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: so far away I know sometimes I just can't take
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: my own advice When you're out of sight, you're out
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: of mind. Do you realize just how much this hurts?
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: We can't compromise.
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: When I'm face down in the dirt, I'm begging no
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: more lies. Cause I've heard them all before. Why don't
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: you draw a line?
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: I guess I didn't see the writing on the wall.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Holding on tight.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: Riding on the wall.
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: The storm is coming back again.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: I won't pretend that.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: I will be okay. Because I will be okay.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: So that's Ophelia there writing on the wall so you
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: know all about them now and what they're up to.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And they are continuing in their role in music.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: And do you know what? It's been a lovely journey.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: I'm really, really pleased that Julie wrote to me and
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: just wondered why no-one ever said anything about them. So
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: there you go, Julie, that's especially for you as well.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: But it brought back some really fantastic, happy memories, you know.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: In the early days, I.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Mean, Orfila and Louise, especially in those very early days,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: were finding their feet in music. And I must admit,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: I was finding my feet in local radio. And it
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: just was so much fun. And I'm so glad. And
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: something I've never, ever done before, play two songs by
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: one artist back to back. So I hope all the
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Orfila family totally enjoyed that just as much as I did. OK, well,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: this is a sports show, and I suppose we'd better
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: do some sport, mustn't we? Right, let's do some football now.